Wonders for the dead

We read in the Psalms, ‘I have called upon you everyday, O Lord … will you perform wonders for the dead?’ When we look at the psalmist’s cry, we can almost feel his exasperation. Here was a man casting himself upon the mercy of God. He had no case to plead and no view to promote. Like all men, he was dead in trespasses and sins, lost and remembered no more. This is the plight of all mankind. We know that all men have eternal existence, but in Adam, all men died. In that sense, we were dead before we were born. In his letter to the Romans, Paul was very clear on this point. We are born as ungodly sinners and enemies of God.

The beginning of salvation is to recognize this predicament. We have no merit to recommend ourselves before the living God. However, we can join the psalmist in calling upon the name of the Lord. We can cry out for mercy, and gloriously, the Lord’s mercy is abundant. We know this because at the appointed time, Christ died for the ungodly. By this means, He demonstrated His own love toward us. And more than this, He worked wonders for the dead. We are justified by His blood, redeemed into the position of a son. And then, having been reconciled to the Father through Christ, we are saved by His life. By His grace, we find the capacity to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. This is the way the dead are raised to praise the Lord.

The psalmist then continued, ‘Will your wonders be made known in the darkness? And your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?’ This is a direct reference to Calvary. By becoming sin, Christ gathered up the death and judgment of all mankind, and began the journey to the place of everlasting destruction, the land of forgetfulness. We’ll recall that darkness covered the face of the earth for three hours as Christ hung on the cross. During this time, Christ destroyed the body of sin in the flesh. He cried out to the Father, ‘My God, why have you forsaken Me?’ He was in the land of forgetfulness, but He continued to entrust Himself to the Father who judges righteously. Like the sacrifices of old, His offering was inspected. He was the Lamb slain, without spot and wrinkle. And with every drop of His precious blood, the Father was bringing Him back from the dead.

By this means, the righteousness of God was made known in the land of forgetfulness. He worked wonders for the dead, and these wonders were made known in the darkness. They were proclaimed from the cross by the blood of everlasting covenant. When He cried, ‘It is finished’, these wonders were complete. Christ was brought back from the dead as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and all believers were brought back in Him. As sheep who have gone astray, we may all return to the Shepherd and guardian of our souls.

Victor Hall

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Feature Articles
June 2008

Sleepless nights

Alive to praise

How are we sent

Wonders for the dead

Faith for our children

The way of wisdom

Light from darkness

Giving to the end

Gathering all Israel